Natural-Hacks Blog

Bring on the cabbage!

Cabbage soup may be one of the best foods to keep you healthy through the long winter months. I make a powerhouse cabbage soup, loaded with nutrients from every ingredient. This soup is healing and will get right to work on healing your gut and your health!

Cabbage is a wonder food that will help detox your body in more than one way. Because it is rich in sulfur, it helps aid the liver in breaking down toxins. Then it's diuretic properties help rid the body of excess water, flushing the broken down toxins out of your system! Cabbage also has an abundance of nutrients including vitamin C, K, B1, B3 (niacin), B6, protein, fiber, magnesium, calcium, potassium, selenium and iron. All of these nutrients are released into the broth as the soup is simmering, so drinking the broth is very important.

The carrots, celery and onion add even more vitamins and minerals, with the carrots providing beta-carotene and the celery providing folate.

The broth is just as important, as I typically use 4 cups of organic chicken bone broth and 4 cups of organic chicken broth. Bone broth has healing compounds and minerals that boost the immune system. The important healing compounds in bone broth- collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline- are what give bone broth so much healing power. The collagen from the bone broth reduces intestinal inflammation and heals the gut lining. Bone broth is especially important for people with leaky gut. Drinking a couple of quarts a week could work wonders for them! But adding a quart to your cabbage soup creates a healing, healthy and nutrition filled meal that will benefit everyone!

In this recipe I also add garlic with the option to add tumeric and diced organic tomatoes. I don't always put tomatoes in mine, but I know a lot of people like them added. The tumeric is for an added boost, as it will help your body absorb all the nutrients your are consuming! And of course, the garlic. We all know how wonderful garlic is, not just for the taste and added seasoning, but garlic is a great detox and healer itself. If you have a cold or flu symptoms, the garlic will add some extra fighting power to kick it to the curb.

This soup is like drinking down straight nutrients that heal you from the inside out! Bon apetit! I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Bentonite Clay comes from the Earth's volcano's. It is formed when volcanic ash has weathered and aged with water present. It holds a very strong negative electromagnetic charge. This charge becomes activated once water is added to the clay and, in turn, whether we ingest it or use topically, the clay acts like a magnet and pulls metals and toxins to it. (If you choose to use it as a drink, use a teaspoon of powder in a slightly warm glass of water, followed by two more glasses of water.) The clay will work it's way through your digestive track, attracting all the positively charged toxins, heavy metals, GMO toxins, fluoride, candida yeasts, parasites, gangrene, bacterial infections and even radiation poison! This is then excreted from the body. Because clay is not absorbed into the bloodstream and doesn't stay in the system, it is considered non-toxic. Drinking plenty of water is key! You want to clay to keep moving and not get stuck. A detox method to use would be 4 weeks of 1 tsp bentonite clay with plenty of water, every day. Take a week break, then back on for 4 weeks of 2 tsp bentonite clay with plenty of water, every day. This powerful detox method can be used with bentonite clay or diatomaceous earth.

​Not only is Bentonite clay a great way to detox heavy metals and toxins from the body, but there's a high amount of calcium, magnesium, silica, iron and potassium. Clay, literally, absorbs toxins and pathogens, while depositing minerals into your body. There is concern of the small trace amounts of lead found in clay, but this lead is never released into the body, it is excreted alongside the other heavy metals found in the body.

While looking for a pest control for my garden I ran across diatomaceous earth. After reading about all the health benefits of taking a tablespoon a day with lots of water, I decided to give it a try. A DE detox. As the story would go, I immediately, within a few days, noticed my nails started growing like crazy. Then after a few more days of using it 1-2 times a day with water, I watched as my skin became clear and youthful looking again. On the flip side, I was also becoming very sick! I started to feel nauseous all the time with a headache and pain, almost like the flu. In fact, I thought for a moment I had the flu. But I never get the flu, so that threw me off. Then I looked up the side effects and realized what was happening. My body was detoxing the bad bacteria from my body and I was experiencing die-off. Come to find out, die-off is a good sign! That means the DE is doing it's job. If you drink lot's of water and continue to use DE in smaller amounts, gradually you will not be effected by it and you will know, once the die-off dies off, that you have balanced your gut flora, for the time being.

​Diatomaceous Earth is an off-white, fine powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. It is 99% pure Silica. Silica helps the body use Calcium. It also repairs vital collagen which, in turn, contributes to healthy bones, ligaments, joints, cartilage and skin. Food-grade DE also contains 15 trace minerals, including calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorous, selenium, copper, zinc and potassium.

​DE is safe to take on a daily basis. Again, if you are taking meds, always check with your doctor first. But for the average healthy person, taking DE daily has numerous benefits! I notice right away my skin looks more youthful. I also get boosts of energy from taking DE. Rule of thumb is to start out with 1-2 teaspoons a day for a week or two, then move up to 1 tablespoon/twice a day. There are no rules with DE, just be sure not to accidentally inhale it or get it in your eyes. It's best to use a plastic spoon when mixing it in water or smoothie. As far as how to take it and how often, that is a personal decision and whatever is comfortable for you.

​DE works by traveling through the stomach and intestines, literally scraping the walls and then dehydrating and killing any parasites, bacterial and fungal infections. To get an idea of how hard the edges of the silica crystals are, on a hardness scale diamonds are ranked at a 9. DE is ranked at a 7. By scraping and ridding the body of these energy zombies from your gut, you will feel more awake and coherent. Daily use contributes to the following.

The aloe vera plant, Aloe barbadensis miller, has more healing properties than most other plants. The gel found on the inner leaf contains vitamins A, C, E, folic acid, choline, B1, B2, niacin, B6 and B12. There are several minerals found in the aloe plant as well. Calcium, zinc, chromium, selenium, magnesium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper and manganese. All of these contribute to a healthy metabolism, activated cellular communication and help produce enzymes. They also contribute to strong teeth, bones and joints. A really simple and fabulous homemade toothpaste would be taking the gel from the leaf and mixing it with a drop of pure peppermint or spearmint essential oil. These two simple ingredients make a powerful, non-abrasive toothpaste that fights bacteria and strengthens the enamel.

​The aloe vera plant is also anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. When taken orally (I advise drinking aloe vera juice, I just feel it works better than taking pill-form), it can help with digestion, strengthen the immune system, help with nutrient absorption, reduce inflammation, provides essential amino acids, help treat diabetes, heal stomach ulcers, relieve constipation, detox the body of toxins, parasites and candida and then some. This plant is powerful and a gem of the Earth!

​You can find aloe vera juice sold in stores and it's best to find pure, whole leaf organic aloe vera juice. That can get expensive though. An easy way to go about this is to buy an organic aloe vera plant to sit in your house, in some sunlight and water it everyday. You can then take a leaf and make your own aloe vera juice. Slice open a leaf and with a spoon, dig out the inner gel. Put the gel in a blender with a little bit of filtered or spring water and blend together. You can add fresh juice (lemon, orange) for added vitamin zing!

​Besides taking aloe orally, it can be used topically too. Because aloe has a neutral taste, smell and touch, it can be used in several different ways. In our house, we have healed pink eye three different times, in less than 24 hours. We have also healed ring worm. In fact, any time our boys have ever had a "skin issue" or irritation, we grab aloe, rub it on the skin and it's gone the next day. The important thing to remember when using a natural remedy like this to heal an infection or irritation, is to do it several times throughout the day. I cut open a leaf and open it up, then literally rub the inner gel right on top of the skin until ALL of the inner gel has been absorbed into the skin! You do this every few hours! This method has worked for us over and over for healing viral and fungal infections. Living in Texas and having a fair-skinned, redhead, I have also seen the aloe plant work it's wonders on sunburns. A part of the wonder is how quickly it heals!

​You can get an aloe vera plant at just about any store that sells plants or has a nursery. I picked up a handful of aloe plants at Home Depot and have them sitting around the house. I have two boys so there are a lot of scrapes, cuts, sunburns and a few of other childhood viral/fungal infections that have come through our house. Our favorite plant is the Aloe Vera plant, because it has helped us heal every single time!

Natural Chelation Therapy

Every day we are being bombarded with toxins from our environment. From the building material in our homes (formaldehyde, asbestos, lead paint), the toxins in our air supply (Aldrin, chlordane, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, furans, cadmium, mercury and aluminum (just to name a few) and, of course, pesticides used on our food. There's also nanoparticles, known as magnetite particles, that come from car exhausts, or any burning fuel, that releases into our environment. Scientists have found that these heavy metals and nanoparticles are embedding themselves in our brain tissue. All of these toxins are directly related to Alzheimer's and other deteriorating health issues. We are literally breathing in toxins every day and do not even realize it. So we have to stay on top of this, for our health and well-being. There are several ways to detox your body. It's very important to cleanse ourselves from the inside out, so this is where cilantro and chlorella come into play.

Cilantro and chlorella are natural chelating agents. If you go to the doctor, they will prescribe a pharmaceutical that is common for chelating lead and arsenic poisoning, but these have serious side effects. Cilantro and chlorella together bind to heavy metal toxin ions, removing them from your system via bodily excretions. Eating cilantro alone isn't enough. Cilantro binds to the heavy metal ions, but it's the chlorella that carry's it out of the body. Without the chlorella the metals bound to cilantro will just sit there in your body, creating more heavy metal side effects (moodiness, irritability, depression). Chlorella, an intestinal absorbing agent, prohibits retoxification! In fact, clinical studies recently proved that chlorella and cilantro together can naturally remove up 87% of lead, 91% of mercury and 74% of aluminum from the body within 42 days if taken correctly. This is great news!

​Before starting this natural chelating process, make sure you are taking plenty of magnesium (for your height/weight). Magnesium will relax your arteries, tissues and muscles, making it easier to detox.
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Here is a link with the recommended doses for chelating heavy metals from the body. This describes exactly what you need to do to detox using this method. How To Detox Using Cilantro & Chlorophyll Tincture

​Below are links to the organic cilantro and chlorophyll supplements I prefer or if you live near an herb store you could have a chlorophyll and cilantro tincture potentially made for you! Remember, drinking lots of water during any detox is absolutely essential to move the toxins out of the body.

Disclaimer: The information in the articles on this blog are strictly of the opinion of the author. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice, as this blog does not provide diagnosis or treatment. This blog is strictly for educational purposes. Some pages may contain affiliate programs with links.